We left our Kennebunkport/Cape Porpoise cottage late last week and drove up to a Bar Harbor cottage to 'summer'. Yeah. So cottages/houses/most businesses don't have air conditioners, because it 'doesn't get hot and humid' here. Dude. It's in the low 90's and humid as hell. Which wouldn't be so bad if THEY HAD AIR CONDITIONERS. What is wrong with these earthy people?

The Good:

Yes, the scenery is lovely and the food is yummy beyond words (I'm a cow. My 'fat clothes' are tight)...

This is a bread bowl of my clam chowdah from a chowdah house in Portland

(I think it was Gilbert's)

I didn't think to take a picture for you until I was halfway through eating it, sorry.

This is a view of the cottage garden and shed down in Cape Porpoise.

This is our cottage road (taken on a foggy early morning) down in Cape Porpoise.

This is the lighthouse near our cottage in Cape Porpoise (Goat Island Light).

This is the Bush Family Compound (on its own peninsula)...well my photo only shows the main house, in Kennebunkport, near our cottage. I should have taken a panoramic or at least some shots to the left, so you could see the rest of it, and where the secret service quarters are, and the getaway/patrol boat, and the gate...but I just didn't care enough. One thing I wish I would have captured: they do actually have a wind turbine behind the SS barracks.

This is the Portland Head Light

(Portland is about 35-40 minutes north of Kennebunkport/Cape Porpoise, but we went up a few times to shop and eat and sight-see...hence this photo.)

Here are some photo's of Bar Harbor/Acadia that we have taken since getting up here (about 4 hours north of Kennebunkport):

This is in Acadia...I think we took this one at 'Sand Beach', about 5 minutes from our Bar Harbor rental house.

This is from one of the trails in Acadia that husband made us hike. HIKE. In the HEAT. (we'll get to the bad and the evil in a minute...)

This is 'Bubble Rocks' over Jordan Lake (in Acadia...where we hoofed around today, in the ungodly sweltering heat). I think you can click on my picture and see it bigger...but I'll say they look less like bubbles and more like boobs. Just keeping it real, yo.

Enough boring you with pictures (Husband takes MILLIONS), but you can see just a bit of its beauty and yumminess. If you like seafood (I do!) and all things blueberry (I do!), then the vittles are truly travel-worthy.

Another wonderful thing about Maine--it is very environmentally friendly, organics are everywhere, and 'green' cars etc. aren't even green enough. People bike or kayak everywhere.

(which comes with a little bit of bad...everyone wears Birkenstocks and some of them don't believe in non-organic deodorant....there is some earthy-SMELLING B.O. going on here. And a lot of hairy legs on 'manly' looking women. I'm open minded and liberal...whatever people's lifestyles are is fine with me, up until I can smell them from a few feet away.)

One more 'good thing' about Bar Harbor...the downtown is adorable.

Okay, now for the Bad:

First, and no offense to anyone of lives here, but the accent makes me want to send them all to speech class for their impediment. It grates down my spine. The whole "chowDAH"/lobSTAH"/ Bah Hahbah thing...it's for realz! Worst accent EVER.

The BUGS!!!!! OMG the bugs! Every state jokes promising their state's State Bird is the mosquito...dude, THIS IS THE STATE. But plenty of other biting, flying bugs dive bomb you.

NO CELL PHONE SERVICE!!! You will see a lot of pay phones around here.

This is as close to camping as I get...and now with this heat wave and no AC...well you'd think hanging out on a (rocky) beach would be nice...except the water is FRIGID!!! It JUST hit 50 degrees. No one goes in past their ankles, and even that only lasts a second.

Awww these are brilliant pics - what a stunning place!!! I hope you are working your magic there Oh Alpha Wolf Woman! I'd like to think that after you leave, the scents of crushed roses and lavender will prevail!

We just got back from another Maine adventure (we were in the Wells/Ogunquit area...) and so much of this rings true! :) The accent drives me batty... every single time we go up there. We always camped in Acadia, growing up, and those pictures bring back such fond memories. I want to sit and chat MAINE with you over some chowder now! Glad you got a way for a bit... gorgeous photos.

Ack! Heat, humidity, mosquitoes, no AC. You poor thing. Thank god for the blueberries. Since I can't actually feel your pain, I will say the photos are gorgeous.Your comment on the frigid water reminded me that someone tossed me into a pond during a summer trip as a kid to NE. I was only about six and still remember the shock.

Gorgeous pics. Reinforces what I was just telling my husband today: We have so many beautiful places in this country that there's enough for everyone to find one and make it their own special spot. Enjoy!

Gee, your description makes me want to move there just because it says there is no cell phone service there; then I wouldn't have the urge to hurl anyone's cell phone into the street anymore. And the pictures are beautiful; I'm jealous! :)

I'm a Yankee living in the south. I find the southern accent grates on my nerves,not so much now, after going on 8 yrs..it took awhile. No cell phone service, well, yeah, if you are in the woods or Acadia(mountains).I had no problems with cell phones, bugs always an issue, but it could be worse... Alaska has the biggest bad ass bugs, in our country!

As for the stink, okay, there are a few towns that have been taken over. All of us, don't live this way...but the city, I frequent hada commune in CA, move in and I so, can relate to the no deo, hairy legs...it still bothers me, when I go back home! AC, yeah, they said, that in Alaska. We had a hot summer, after Mt. Spurr dropped ash on us; it is not the norm. Maine and Alaska aren't known for hot, humid summers. Maine is a place where if you don't like the weather, wait a minute~ Head to the shoreline, it is cooler! Pass the lobSTAH, will yaaaah?!

Lola- it looks FABULOUS! And having lived in Oregon for years, I LIKE Birkenstocks (though I WEAR Fekenstocks) and can tolerate that whole au naturelle thing, though a couple times a year I DO shave my legs. The talking though, might drive me nuts once it stopped amusing me so much.

Sounds like an interesting holiday! Wisconsin mosquitoes, well they seem to just love Irish blood. Thing is we swell up terribly from them. One bite can triple the size of an Irish hand!! So I feel for you in the bug department.

Although I'll always remember Maine as the trip I almost hit a moose as he crossed the road, the delicious food memory trumps that. It was simple, fresh, delicious and everything tasted "home-cooked" and I'm not even talking lobstahs!

Hope to go back one day...but I'll stay in a hotel that has air conditioning and a heated pool ;)

Looks like you're having a great time. You're forgiven for not writing. Sometimes we just have to slow down and enjoy life. Those mosquitos though, ugh, and no air conditioning! Yikes! But the clam chowder looks like it makes up for it (as long as you don't have to hear them say it)!

I saw the photo for your blog (love the shoes!)and knew I had to check it out. You have amazing pics posted. I LOVE lighthouses! Anyway, I joined your blog and look forward to reading all your posts. Hope you have a wonderful day! MJ

Okay, I'm having a vacation right here at my computer looking at your photographs. Gorgeous! I want to go to the cottage and lighthouses! Of course, I don't need to worry about an AC or the bugs. Then again, I've missed out on the chowdah. Have a wonderful time, Lola. Thanks for sharing your journey with us. It looks so fun :)

HAHAAH on the accent! I actually love how my Maine and Massachusetts friends say "go pahk the cahh." I'd prefer it over what some New Yorkers do, drawl out the "a" in words like dad and bad. The clam chowdah looks FANTASTIC. Looks like you had a great trip in a beautiful place!

May your pen be mighty

About Me

Lola Sharp

My name is Lola. (I'm not a showgirl) Yes, L-O-L-A Lola. It's the least of my worries. Let's move on, shall we?
This blog is mostly about my misadventures on the journey to publication and beyond. My passion for lush prose, quirky characters, art, music, literature, performing arts and anything creative will be a major theme here. This journey of mine will not always be pretty. Much like rubbernecking a train wreck, I know sometimes you just can't help but look at the carnage that is often my life. So strap on your neck brace, helmet and 5-point harness and come along for the ride!
Licentia poetica.